World

ByCompiled from wire service reports by Robert Kilborn, Kristen Broman-Worthington and Steven SavidesJanuary 9, 2002

Israel has proof of Yasser Arafat's involvement in the shipment of 50 tons of weapons seized at sea and will release it later this week, a government spokesman said. Daniel Ayalon, foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said, "We have all the evidence, including the documents, that leads directly to Arafat and the Palestinian Authority." The latter confirmed that the captain of the captured vessel is a Palestinian naval officer but denied any links to the Iranian-made weapons and ordered an investigation late Monday.

The US military is wrapping up its search for Osama bin Laden in the Tora Bora caves of eastern Afghanistan, its commander said. Gen. Tommy Franks said arrangements are in place to allow the US chase to move to Pakistan, although he noted there was no hard proof that bin Laden had fled there. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, three senior Taliban officials were reported ready to surrender near Kandahar. And aid workers near the western city of Herat said the number of refugees at the Maslakh Camp had tripled to at least 300,000 since November. (Related story, page 1)

Senior Indian officials dismissed a pledge by Pakistan's leader to crack down on Islamic militants as insufficient. "What we expect from Pakistan is concrete, serious, substantial steps to deal with cross-border terrorism," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said. On Monday, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf promised to reveal details of a renewed crackdown within days. India blames Pakistan-based militants for an attack on its parliament last month. The armed forces of both nations remain on high alert. Above, an Indian Army officer measures a man during a recruitment drive. (Stories, pages 1, 8.)

In an effort to promote the peace process in neighboring Congo, Rwandan President Paul Kagame arrived in Angola for talks with Angolan leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos. Rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda took up arms in 1998 against Congo's government, which is supported by Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Fighting continues in the east of the country despite a 1999 peace accord.

The closed-door trial of 15 dissidents charged with plotting to overthrow Iran's hard-line Islamic regime opened in Tehran. The defendants, mainly opposition politicians, journalists, and university professors, are supporters of the National Religious Alliance, a liberal group opposed to the conservative clerics who control Iran's judiciary.

Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey announced he will step down as spiritual leader of the Church of England in October. During his 11 years in charge of the world's 70 million Anglicans, Carey frequently found himself at the center of controversy. He supported the 1992 decision to ordain women as priests and urged clergy to make services more fun for parishioners. He also upset gay rights campaigners by advocating celibacy for homosexual priests.